Barkley Soundings -Chapter 1-

Freya's
Adventures, with B&B

July 7, 2011 – Day 2 of Wending to
the West Coast

1540h.
We are anchored in Pedder Bay, on the south side of William Head
(home of the so-called Club Fed prison), and otherwise surrounded by
DND property. No going ashore here. Around the corner is Race
Passage, where the currents can get rather raucous, and sea lions are
often lounging on the rocks. We parked ourselves last night just
after 2030h. Yep, a late arrival, but in time for a combined happy
hour and nacho supper . Since we didn't leave until 1600h, and had to
battle strong, gusty head winds (and a little current), we didn't do
too badly. Besides, any earlier and we might have missed the whale
that was spouting off in the distance. The day was remarkably clear
on our side of the strait, with the sun highlighting snowy mountains
in sharp detail (like Mt Baker seen behind Victoria in this photo).
Across the way, the peaks of the Olympic mountain range appeared
suspended on a fluffy white bed, a fog bank extending all along the
American coast. Happily it caused us no grief, although it did nip at
our heels, enveloping the Race Rocks lighthouse as we headed into
Pedder Bay.

Today's
forecast called for more wind, up to 40kts against us in the
afternoon. We could have made it to Sooke this morning before the
winds got too snotty but opted instead for a more leisurely day
swinging on the hook. We are anchored near a long pier; although it
is fairly unattractive, the local water fowl, with bright orange-red
legs, hang out on the tires draped over the side, improving the look
of the dock considerably. Otherwise, the scenery mainly consists of
rocks, trees, water, and clouds racing by in the gusts of wind. We
read our novels for a while in the sun, out of the wind, and then
be-stirred ourselves to tackle a few chores. Yesterday's sail
revealed a big rip in the bag that keeps the mainsheet contained. It
lasted amazingly well, but eventually the sun takes its toll. We also
discovered that the sun had decimated the plastic zipper in our
stay-sail cover. Bjarne took on the mainsheet bag and I am working on
the sail bag – you could say the afternoon was sew-sew.

1704h. We've retired below as the sun
is no longer shining in the cockpit. Seems to me it's time to ring
the happy hour bell. That should warm us up.

1955h. Nice stew, prepared by BJ, and a
bit of wine make for a yummy dinner. Tomorrow morning we leave for our big leap (about 80 miles) to the Broken Islands.

Other entertainment – a funny radio
show, This and That on CBC in which we heard that Molson was
trademarking the Northern Lights to be the Molson Canadian
Northern Lights. We we were pretty sure this was tongue in cheek.
Other excitement: tonight is movie night...and popcorn.

July 8-9 – From Pedder Bay to
Effingham Island (Barkley Sound)

0940h had us (meaning Bjarne) hauling
up the anchor and heading out of Pedder Bay with some sunshine and a
partly overcast sky to the west. It wasn't long before BJ spotted a
whale which he described in the log as follows: black, low spout,
with a small dorsal fin, which sounded with its flukes up about 2ft
above the water. I just glimpsed it once with its dorsal fin curving
up and then down.

Getting by Race Rocks was otherwise
uneventful. The current was a little against us but not for long.
Although we were close hauled, the wind allowed us to sail right
through Race Passage on one tack. We then proceeded to tack up the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, with decent, albeit against us, winds for the
better part of the day. The sun frequently provided cheer and warmth
in the otherwise chilly air, the waxing half moon glowed in the blue
sky at times covered in clouds, and the waves and swell were small.
The vagaries of the wind did result in numerous sail changes (we got
a particularly good refresher in reefing and unreefing ), but all in
all, the sailing was fine.

By 1830h the wind was becoming even
more finicky so we began alternating between motoring and sailing as
the conditions would allow. Finally, 2200h the engine came on and
stayed on until we reached Effingham I. just before 0700h the next
morning. The upside of having to endure the constant drone of the
engine is that we can maintain a direct course for our destination,
which allowed for an earlier than expected arrival. There is
something to be said for a calm night as well.

The night never became pitch dark. At
this time of year and latitude, the light lingers well past sunset.
The moon also provided a gentle light until it settled into the
waters of the strait, large and orange as it bid farewell. We then
had a lovely display of stars. I think I saw one shooting star out of
the corner of my eye, but otherwise the stars held to their predicted
paths. Other lights included the much appreciated and well-maintained
Canadian navigation aids, and a few ships that were travelling up or
down the strait. The night sounds included a whistle buoy, and a
whale spouting (as heard by Bjarne). The outline of the hills on our
starboard side could be discerned throughout the night and by around
0400h there was a definite lightening behind the hills. Bjarne
greeted the sun around 0525, while I dozed below.

There is no getting around the fact
that a night passage, especially the first night, is tiring. Once we
were securely anchored in Effingham Bay (in a spot north of where we
were the last time we were here) I didn't want to do much of
anything. However, Bjarne was inspired to make muffins for breakfast
so I helped. The need to keep on top of the fresh provisions is ever
present – well, until you run out of fresh provisions; we chopped
the last of the strawberries, leaving out the fuzzy one, into the
muffins. We then read for a bit and napped for a couple of hours,
before lunch. Add in a cup of tea and I began to feel mostly back to
normal, with enough energy to help inflate the dinghy and go for a
tour around the bay. The latter part was not so difficult since we
used the electric outboard (yet to be named although Stealth
is becoming a frontrunner).

Around happy hour, just when I was
thinking about ringing the bell, Antareswith
Jim and Carolaboard arrived
from their mini-off-shore expedition. They were still settling in
when BJ suggested we pop over for a quick hello. We were invited
aboard to join in their celebratory drink and hear about the exciting
and frightening details of Jim's close encounter with the freighter.
Nyon soon arrived in the anchorage, also triumphantly back
from the off-shore test.

Concerned about overstaying our
welcome, we headed back to Freya with the understanding that
we would all get to together that evening if the off-shore folks had
enough energy. At the time, Jim and Carol were game but once the
adrenaline settled down they, not surprisingly, crashed. Rick and
Kyra thought were still feeling perky so we arrived on their vessel
help them celebrate, and to hear the exciting details of their close
encounters with whales. The visit got off to an unusual start when I
accidentally sat on the chocolate-covered dessert we had brought.
Kyra lent me some pants; the dessert was fortunately salvageable, but
renamed as Chocolate-Pants Pie.

July 10, 2011 – Smoke on the Water

There
is a limitless supply of boat chores – a lucky person gets to do
them in beautiful locations. Effingham Bay is home to many Bald
Eagles and we were entertained today with their soaring sorties.
Several times we heard a sharp “crack” in the forest, followed
shortly by the sight of an eagle beating strongly to gain altitude
while clenching a stick in its claws. These weren't tiny twigs
either; one stout branch was a meter long and looked as thick as a
dinghy oar. Nest-building supplies, we guessed. (note: this photo
does notshow the stick the
eagle was carrying)

Freya's
head is well illuminated (in the daytime) by a glass prism
embedded in the deck that concentrates sunlight and beams it in. This
fixture has had a slow leak for a few months, and now was the time to
fix it. We unscrewed the frame, cleaned it and the prism, and
reseated it with that old friend, 3M 4200. Barb commented that a hull
without any holes in it would never leak, but that that would of
course be like a house without any doors or windows.

Every boat owner is also a seamstress,
even if only occasionally. Today's stitches in time reattached the
alligator clip to a ball cap. Why a clip on a ballcap? To keep it
attached to oneself when the wind whips the cap off one's head. A
second sewing project continued, but not finished, was that new bag
for the mainsheet mentioned earlier.

So, what about that puff of smelly
smoke wafting slowly past Freya? And how did it get there? It
was the byproduct of momentary carelessness, and consisted of
vaporized insulation from the wires I had used to connect our solar
panel (Sparky) to one of Stealth's batteries. I was taking
advantage of the sun to charge the battery, and noticed that Sparky
was no longer aimed well. Whilst shifting Sparky, the alligator clips
that had temporarily connected to the battery shorted to each other.
This dumped a LOT of current through the wires from the battery and
heated them enough that the insulation boiled off into a noxious
cloud. Barb was brought on deck by the thump of me dropping Sparky
onto the deck so I could swat the wires away from the battery
terminals before it started a bigger fire. I decided that the next
charging session would include better terminals and a fuse.

July 11, 2011 – Slowing Down

Much
rum has been consumed, and pizza eaten. We spent a wonderful day in
the company of fellow sailors from Nyon and Antares.
Following the morning chores we zipped (silently, with Stealth)
off to pick up Kyra and Rick on Nyon and then accompanied Jim
and Carol (Antares) to the head of the bay on Effingham I.
Leaving the dinghies secured to shore, we meandered through a forest
trail past immense trees, over arching roots, and balancing on
windfallen logs. Thirty minutes of trekking brought us to the
southwestern rocky shore with a gorgeous view over flat waters. While
we were seated on a beach blanket enjoyed our picnic lunches, a
humpback whale entertained us with its periodic surfacing, blowing,
and sounding. Several times it breached, which we were fortunate
enough to witness and even catch on camera.

This
portion of the island's attraction is a cave, reached via a 45 minute
barefooted scramble over boulders, logs, and shell midden. We could
have moved faster, but were distracted by the tidepools' bounty:
barnacles, crabs, anemones and seastars. The cave's opening is at
ocean level and best accessed at low tide. The wide mouth is
curtained by overhanging verdant ferns and gradually narrows into a
damp stone funnel with water dripping from the ceiling onto a
driftwood-strewn floor. With a flashlight lighting the way we
explored inward about 25 metres until further passage would have
required squirming on hands and knees past a chokepoint.

Back at our motherships, we set about
cleaning up, doing a few chores, and getting dinner ready. The solar
shower bag left in the sun all afternoon had warmed up to a
dirt-busting 20 C, so we boiled some additional water in a kettle and
added it to the bag. While Barb grabbed the first shower I donned a
bathing suit and plunged into Effingham Bay to replace Freya's
propshaft zinc. With a mask/snorkel I quickly screwed on the new
anode, which should protect the propeller from wasting away in the
saltwater environment. Job finished, and feeling guilty at missing so
many swim practices, I had a quick swim around the boat. Barb had by
then finished her shower so I took my turn in the cockpit – the
shower was exquisitely warm in contrast to the cool ocean.

Our guests from Nyon and Antares
started arriving for dinner as we were hanging the towels out to dry.
Our contribution to the potluck was pizza, while Jim & Carol
brought a Greek salad and Rick & Kyra bore a clafoutis (yummy
baked eggs and fruit). Seated in Freya's cockpit until the sun
set, and then retreating to the warmth below, we all enjoyed a grand
evening of dinner, drinks and talk.

July 12, 2011 – New Scenery

Today was a day to see new things.
While eating breakfast we spotted the large police cruiser NADON
motoring through the anchorage. They bypassed the Canadian boats but
were overheard hailing the USA-flagged yachts; we assume they were
confirming proper customs checkin and that they weren't smuggling too
much alcohol into Canada.

Hummingbirds
are now regularly visiting our Hbird Feeder®
Mk III. It's not perfect, but seems to work; we took a yoghurt
container, drilled a small hole in the side, and then fashioned a red
flower from BabyBel cheese wax. Another boater, who has been visiting
Barkley Sound for the past 33 years, told us that the hummingbirds
migrate through here over a two week period in July.

We
wanted today to go check out a new anchorage. After weighing anchor,
we motored out Coaster Channel and raised our sails to head into the
open Pacific. As a bonus to add to the nice breezy day, a couple of
humpback whales were feeding near Verbeke Reef and we watched them
for about ten minutes as we headed west. Here's a photo (taken at
Effingham I) of one surfacing with mouth wide open, scooping up all
the yummies swimming in hundreds of litres of seawater. Half an hour
out we tacked and then headed back into the Broken Group via Loudoun
Channel and then Peacock Channel. It was downwind in about 8 knots -
great sail for most of the way with the Red Baron up (after debating
if it was worth the work – yes, it was).

We arrived at Nettle I. in time for
Happy Hour aboard Nyon, and
with the company of Antares. Drinks
and appies led into supper – yummy pasta. As darkness fell
Kyra instigated tequila shooters. Barb skipped that activity but did
have some extra rum so as to not be a complete stick in the mud. We
were both trying to be moderate in our drinking and it seemed Jim and
Carol were as well, so our engagement in this activity was not up to
university-days standards. Despite being fairly well-behaved we still
managed to enjoy ourselves – who knew? On the way back to Freya
we observed some interesting phosphorescence in the water. They were
little individual dots, maybe one per 10 or 20 square feet, that were
lit bright green and stayed lit without the agitation that usually is
needed to get the phosphorescence going.

July 13 – Soggy Times Start

July 13 – For our first night at
Nettle, I don't think we were back on Freya and in bed until
around midnight. There was lots of rain all through the night –
didn't think to put out any rain catchers – nice cozy sound when
the rain stays outside of the boat (which it did). The morning of the
13th was rainy and misty. We had a break in the afternoon,
although it remained overcast, and then the mist and rain returned
for the evening. Even in the rain, the West Coast is pretty.

Barb made cocoa quickies and later,
brownies (the base was from the brownie mix that we had purchased
from Pip for her school fundraiser and the icing was based on the
Texas brownie recipe – or what I could recall of it). The latter
was well-received later that night at yet another evening of
socializing, drinking and eating.

BJ, in between reading his novel, gave
a much-needed scrub to our cockpit and cockpit grate.

In the afternoon we toured around in
the dinghy – saw maybe a baby seal (the head was small enough to be
an otter, but shaped like a seal's). Took some photos of an eagle who
was perched atop a tree and spreading out its wings before it took
off to a tree further away. We checked out the other suggested
anchorages for Nettle I. which were pretty and cozier than the one we
three were in. We may park ourselves in that anchorage yet as we
still have a good chunk of time to hang out here.

Dinner was a bit delayed because Jim
had an exploding boat job on his hands. He managed to get his head
reassembled and working and so we were all welcomed aboard Antaresfor a great curry dinner. Our
brownies also took longer to cook than was predicted. We've never
measured the temperature of this stove, but suspect the thermostat
keeps it a bit cooler than it says. We were entertained, aside from
our scintillating conversation, by a wide variety of music, provided
by Jim and his iPod. Oh, I almost forgot the oysters. Carol had
harvested a good collection of them earlier that day (there are
apparently lots growing here, which we attributed to the relatively
warm 16-18 degree water). Before dinner, everyone except Bjarne and I
was gleefully engaged in shucking and slurping, some choosing lemon
juice for accent, some tabasco sauce. We enjoyed it as a spectator
sport. Bjarne did eat a small piece that was flung onto his pants.

We stayed
reasonable dry as we motored back after another late night because it
is quite easy to stand and steer with Stealth. Even better, we
arrived home to a warm cozy boat; the furnace had been working its
magic while we were out carousing. Ahhh, luxury.

headed out
before lunch – nice sail across Imperial Eagle channel for most of
it – just when it was least convenient (grilled cheese sandwiches
almost ready, and BJ trying to take a fix) the wind picks up and we
are moving along at a good clip – the wind then dies and leaves us
kind of floundering around, trying to eke out a little more distance
in the light, fickle breezes. We enjoyed a relaxed lunch in the calm
wind at least. Finally, we gave up and motored the rest of the
way...into a little channel between Friend I. and Tzartus I. We are
in the Deer Group of islands now. This area is known for having a
lot of sea caves, and apparently sea lions on the more southern
isles of this group.

Anchoring a
bit tricky to find shallow enough but not too close to shore –
made the mistake of leaving the main up – naturally a gust came
along right when the anchor was being dropped and messed up our
position so we took the sail down, circled back and dropped again.

Antares
arrived as we anchored. Nyon ended up about .8 miles south of
where we were. We decided to go exploring for sea caves. Carol came
with us, Jim went in their faster dinghy to pick up Rick and Kyra
and we tootled over to Wend Island where we found a couple of sea
caves. On the way, we saw an eagle up in a tree and a group of 4
Oyster Catchers on a small rock poking up out of the water. The
first cave we stopped at was more like a large crevice – I climbed
out as the wall of the cave had a lot of ledges and stepping stones.
I got a better look and it didn't seem worth everyone piling out so
we carried on to the next cave where we could get ashore and look
around. This cave was similar in size (height and width, to the one
on Effingham but it went back further and had more cave snot (as
Rick called the green slimy stuff) on the walls. ... Jim et al.
caught up a few minutes after we had secured the dinghy on gotten
ashore.

on the way
back we saw a black seal hanging out in front of what looked like
another small cave.

we all headed
back and ended up on Antares for happy and appy hour. We
nipped back to Freya to pick up some contributions. Although
it was threatening to rain, it pretty much just remained overcast
and damp so we were comfortable enough in the cockpit and we ate
appies for supper.

Back at Freya
we wimpily decided to turn on the furnace for a couple of hours
before bed to take the dampness out of the air. Bjarne is absorbed in
his book and I have been trying to catch up on the log, but now the
eyelids are getting heavy so it is time for bed.